At
the end of Bob Swanson’s funeral, the late husband
of our deacon, Geri Swanson, the entire congregation followed
the clergy and casket outside to the oval in front of the
church for a military ceremony. Bob was a veteran of
the US Navy, and over 150 people stood in complete silence
as two uniformed servicemen removed the flag from his casket,
folded it with precision, saluted it, and handed it to Geri. As
a light rain began to fall, a bugler played taps.

Standing in the oval observing
the military ceremony, I was reminded how powerful silence
is. Our current Prayer Book was introduced in the
late 1970s and its rubrics, in a departure from the previous
Prayer Book, called for places of silence, such before the
Confession of Sin and at the conclusion of the Prayers of
the People. I remember how uncomfortable it felt when
the priest first starting observing those rubrics. He’s
not talking! What’s going on? Did he loose
his place? Did he fall asleep? With time, of
course, those brief periods of silence began to feel normal,
even welcome.

Christmas, particularly
in our hymnody, has all kinds of associations with silence. In
the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem we sing, “How
silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given”.
And, most famously, silence is extolled in the opening words
of Silent Night. In these carols the silence
seems to represent a mystery that is beyond the power of
speech. The silence of Christmas Eve embraces all
the deep mysteries of life: Birth, sin, redemption, and
death. On Christmas Eve we gaze into a feeding trough
at a baby born in a barn who will die to save the world. What
can our response to such things be except reverent silence?

Christmas is a busy,
noisy time. We have gifts to buy, houses to decorate,
family to visit, dinners to cook, concerts to attend, and
myriad other activities. In church we have special
services to plan, music to practice, a pageant to rehearse,
and candles, hundreds of candles, to light. But somewhere
in the midst of all this activity maybe each of us can take
a few minutes to sit in silence with the profound mystery
of Christmas.

Fr. Chuck

Meet
Our New Bishop Coadjutor-Elect

During a special election which took place on Saturday,
November 19, the Rev. Canon Andrew Dietsche was elected
the bishop coadjutor-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of
New York - a position that gives him automatic right of
succession to the current Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev.
Mark S. Sisk, when he retires.

Canon
Dietsche, a Poughkeepsie, NY resident who is currently
on the diocesan staff as Canon for Pastoral Care, is a
familiar face here on Staten Island and visited with us
several times when Bishop Sisk made his visitation to Christ
Church.

The bishop coadjutor-elect
must now receive the consent of a majority both of the
other diocesan bishops of the Episcopal Church and of the
standing committees of the Church's dioceses, before being
consecrated in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on
Saturday, March 10, 2012.

Canon
Dietsche will become the new Diocesan Bishop on Bishop
Sisk's retirement, which must take place on or before his
72nd birthday in August 2014.

Beautiful
Voyces! Beth Johanning

The new Staten Island early
music vocal ensemble Voyces will present Wassail!,
a celebration of medieval and Renaissance carols at St.
Mary's Episcopal Church on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
and St. John's Episcopal Church on Friday, Dec. 23 at 7:30
p.m.

Wassail! will
feature pieces by Palestrina, Monteverdi and Scheidt, as
well as popular carols based on music from the Piae
Cantiones of 1582.

Christmas
Holiday Baskets Fr. Chuck

We will be gathering at
Christ Church on Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. to assemble
Christmas Holiday Baskets to be distributed to needy families.
Baskets for needy families here on Staten Island. Baskets
will be distributed the following day, Wednesday, December
14 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Volunteers are needed both days – to
assemble the baskets and help to carry them from gymnasium
up to the parking lot.

Sign-up sheets will
be posted on the bulletin board in the parish hall.

A
Stewardship Message Marshall Green

(On
Sunday, November 20, Marshall Green shared his feelings
about the importance of Stewardship in his life. With
Marshall’s permissions we have reprinted his stirring
and heartfelt message.)

Hello fellow parishioners, I think you know my children,
Marigold and Alice. They seem so nice and sweet…and
they are truly sweet and wonderful girls… most of
the time. Like all children and in fact like all people
they sometimes find themselves in disagreement, and feelings
of anger can naturally arise. And in those moments when
they are mad and treating each other unkindly I say to
them “The most important thing is to love each other” And
sometimes in a surprising way this works, because the Love
we share is so much more important than anything else that
it reveals the true triviality of the particular issues
of the day.

The message of Jesus that I find most valuable
is that the most important thing we can do in this life
is to Love. We love our parents, our siblings, our spouses,
our children… and more, of course we love our cousins
and aunts and uncles… but wait not just our families
but our neighbors, our co-workers and not just the ones
who are easy to love because we share similar values and
principles or enjoy the same books or movies or TV shows
but also the ones who disagree with us on issues that we
care very much about, the ones whose interests bore us,
even the ones who are rude and offensive and even those
whose lives have led them to believe things that we find
reprehensible.

Love is the only option that
can effect positive change.

The most important thing we
can do in this life is to Love.

Some of the hardest
times to find Love within ourselves for others, is when
we feel that we or our close loved ones are threatened,
especially when our children are threatened. We can
even feel justified in our anger and even hate in some
situations.

We can all think of examples of this in
our own lives. These challenges can happen in a physical
way or it can be a subtler thing like when our best interests
and efforts are thwarted by someone else working toward
their own interest with disregard for others. Even
in these situations, Love is the only option that can effect
positive change.

Sure, it is possible to fight back against
others or manipulate our circumstances so that our interests
are triumphant, and this might seem like a positive outcome
from our own personal perspective, but it is not a truly
positive outcome from a holistic perspective, in the sight
of God.

Jesus said: “Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those
who mistreat you. If someone hits you on the cheek, offer
them the other cheek. If someone takes your cloak, don’t
stop him taking your tunic. Give to everyone who begs,
and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand
it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. After
all, if you love those who love you, what credit is that
to you? Even sinners love those who love them” (Luke
6:27-32).

Love is the only option that
can effect positive change.

The most important thing we
can do in this life is to Love.

I love this church. I love the buildings,
I love the events and activities, I love the sense of community,
I love giving my energy and time to help the church grow
and thrive, I love teaching our children, and I love everyone
here. This church is a Community based on the word
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His word is LOVE.

And this community of love is growing. This
is an exciting place to be. And this is an exciting
time to be here. In the last few years, our education
programs doubled and then tripled, we have a wonderful
after school program that innovatively combines academics
and arts, and our worship attendance has grown steadily. New
people visit our church, they see and feel the growing
energy and excitement and they come back and become parishioners. And
one of these days, God willing, we will have a balanced
budget.

This year I have been unemployed. As a result
we will be selling our family home. These are difficult
times with tough challenges and difficult decisions to
make and sometimes painful choices to follow through on.

Before I lost my job, I was giving a fair amount to
the church. I did not think about it as a percentage
of my income. I am not sure how I determined what
a “fair” amount to give was. But
this year when money is a very real concern, I have managed
to keep my giving at the same level. I stopped all
other charitable giving. We used to give to a couple environmental
organizations, a couple of arts groups, a political organization
and Christ Church. The only organization that we
felt we could not stop giving to is Christ Church. Each
of us has to weigh our own abilities to give. But
my experience is that when the going got challenging, my
real ability to give to Christ Church was considerably
greater than I was aware of and that the really important
responsibility is to our community. Our community
based on Love.

So, I would like to ask all of you to recalculate
what you consider fair. Re-evaluate how much you can really
afford to give to our community of love. And if you can
give more then give more. Actually give as much as
you can afford to give… and then give a little more. I
think you might find that you are more able than you are
aware. So please, put your money where your Love
is.

Thank
you all for the love and support you have shown me and
my family and thanks for listening.

Evensong
Service at Christ ChurchTo celebrate the 350th Anniversary of Staten Island

Don’t forget to mark
your calendars for Sunday, December 4 at 4 p.m. This is
a historic celebration of our history that only takes place
once every 350 years!

This historic
celebration will include a service of Evensong with prayers
and music that would have been used during an Evensong
service 350 years ago. A combined choir, under the direction
of Tom Sarff, will present music from that era, including
the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis of Orlando Gibbons.

The ten Staten
Island churches that are part of the Richmond Interparish
Council will participate in the service that will use the
1559 Prayer Book. Also in attendance will be Bishop Roskam
and the Rev. Andrew Smith.

A reception
will follow where each parish will have displays with photos
and other memorabilia on their histories and information
about their current ministries. Light refreshments will
be served.

If your special day is not in our records, call the
ParishOffice at 718-727-6100 so it
can be added.

Vestry
Notes Nick Dowen

The regularly scheduled
meeting of the Vestry of Christ Church New Brighton took
place on Monday, November 14, 2011. Following are highlights
of important issues that were discussed that evening:

Plant & Equipment Committee

Northfield Foundation grant: Barnett
Shepherd’s request to Northfield for $21,000 to replace
the chair lift and the church’s sound system was
granted, and we should receive a check within the next
few weeks.

Parish Hall repairs: Seaboard has done
the preliminary work, removing all coping stones that needed
to be removed and grinding out bad mortar. They should
start repointing this week. They have discovered additional
problems—more stones that need to be replaced, for
example—that the Vestry will need to address. Project
managers will meet soon to discuss this.

Pianos: The choir has received offers
of two pianos to replace the piano in the choir rehearsal
room and perhaps the piano in the Auditorium. These offers
are being evaluated.

Church basement workshop: Victor Stanwick
has advised Plant & Equipment that he will close up
his shop as soon as he finishes replacing the floor boards
at the east entry to the auditorium. He says it doesn’t
make sense to spend $5,000-7,000 on a shop that floods
in the rain. It is also very difficult to get materials
in and garbage and finished products out.

Finance Committee

Willie Black, Jr. reported the following: The Finance
Committee has begun working on the 2012 Budget, with the
Diocesan Assessment and other matters yet to be determined.

Christ Church Community Outreach
(CCCO)

The after-school reading, African-drumming and steel-drumming
programs are staffed and will begin on Wednesday, Nov.
16. They are being promoted to Grades 6-9, but the drumming
programs might be offered to adults. There are 26 singers
in the Christ Church Community Youth Choir. Thanksgiving
food baskets have been increased in number from 200 to
240. Volunteers are needed to assemble the baskets on Tuesday;
they will be distributed on Thursday.

Stewardship

A preliminary report shows 28 pledging units with a total
of $37,482.

Fund-Raising

The 2012 Calendar of Fund Raising Events was reviewed
and approved by the Vestry. It was noted that proceeds
from all fund-raising events go into general operating
expenses, with the exception of the Scholarship Tea. There
will be no capital outlay by the parish for this activity. Nominating
Committee

This committee’s work is being finalized and a
report will be presented at the December Vestry meeting.

Capital Campaign

Individual interviews and meetings of focus groups will
be held and a feasibility report will be presented at the
Annual Meeting in January 2012.

Parish Hall Restoration Project

Marshall Green and Barry Donaldson, Project Managers,
are pleased with the progress of this project. Richard
Whaley explained the concept of "Discovery," by which additional
needs and problems might be discovered as the work goes
on.

Churchwarden’s Report

Mark Gherzo stated that Shirley Elfers was inducted into
the Curtis High School Hall of Fame in a public ceremony
on Nov. 13, 2011.

Rector’s Report

The Rector mentioned the installation of the Rev. Kevin
Fisher, St. Mary’s new Rector, on Nov. 18, and the
election of a bishop coadjutor of New York on Nov. 19.
Evensong according to the 1559 Book of Common Prayer will
be sung at Christ Church on Dec. 4 at 4:00 P.M. in observance
of 350 years of European settlement on Staten Island.

Food
for Thought Susan L. Fowler

We’ve come to the
end of the growing season on Staten Island, but the need
for food, and especially fruits and vegetables, hasn’t
ended. You may be pleased to know that there are at least
four ways to help out this winter:

Help
at Second Saturday by cooking or serving. You can cook
a dish ahead of time—macaroni and cheese, spaghetti
with meat sauce, or whatever’s on the schedule for
the month—or help out at Trinity Lutheran. Victor
Stanwick’s crew always makes a very appealing green
salad, so come at 10:30 if you want to help with that.
He also needs people to serve lunch between noon and 1
p.m. For details, talk to Victor or email
him.

City
Harvest distributes fresh fruit and vegetables twice a
month, on the first Tuesday and the third Saturday, at
the Stapleton Houses between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. It’s
a lively operation and you’ll enjoy it. For details,
call or write me at 917 734-3746 or email
me.

Meals
on Wheels always needs volunteers. If you’re available
for approximately two hours, one day a week, please volunteer
to deliver meals to elderly neighbors in the community
or to work in the office. Please contact Roseann Holt,
Volunteer Administrator, at 718 727-4435 for more information.
You can also fill in the form at http://www.mealsonwheelsofsi.org/volunteers.htm.

All
of the pantries and soup kitchens are running low on food
this winter, so it’s important to bring food to
church on Sunday for our collection. However, remember
that some types of dry or canned food are better than
others. If you buy canned food, pick low-salt beans and
vegetables and fruit canned in its own juices rather than
in syrup. Low-sugar cereals like corn flakes and Cheerios
are better choices than high-sugar Reese's Puffs, Corn
Pops, or Lucky Charms.

One of the things that
farmers do in the cold season is plan for the spring, and
you, too, can help plan next summer’s crops. The
Staten Island Hunger Task Force, now led by Deacon Beverly
Neuhaus, is working with GrowNYC, Snug Harbor, the Castleton
Moravian Church community garden, and other community gardeners
both to create new gardens and to get extra produce from
the gardens to food pantries and soup kitchens during the
season. Connie Black and Sheila Hewitt are the Christ Church
contacts.

There will be a one-day
conference about this project in January, and a planning
meeting on Dec. 15. For more information, call me at 917
734-3746 or write
me. To help with Christ Church’s vegetable
garden, talk to Connie and Sheila. Kevin Branciforte also
has two lush beds of vegetables on the Fillmore Street
side of the church, so feel free to talk to him about that
project as well.

Christmas
Services at Christ Church

Christ Church offers three
opportunities to celebrate Christmas.

4 p.m. Christmas Eve, Family Holy Eucharist.

This service is geared
toward families with young children and also those who
would prefer not to be out late at night. The service will
feature familiar carols and music. The Godly Play Choir
and the Christ Church Community Youth Choir will also sing
during this service.

10 p.m. Festal Holy Eucharist

This service is in the formal
Midnight Mass tradition of Christmas. It is a candlelit
service featuring carols, anthems by the Christ Church
choir, and adoration of the Christ Child. Worshiping
in the candlelit church on Christmas Eve is truly a magical
experience.

10 a.m. Christmas Day Holy Eucharist

The congregation for
this simple, said service of Holy Eucharist sits close
to the altar in the choir stalls. The Gospel lesson for
Christmas Day is always taken from the first chapter of
the Gospel of John in which the evangelist unfolds the
mystery of the Incarnation. The Christmas Day Eucharist
is a quiet, reflective moment amid the hubbub of Christmas
celebrations. Since Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this
year there WILL be a coffee hour immediately following
the service.

Watch
Night

The Liberian community will
once again be sponsoring a Watch Night service
on New Year’s Eve. Watch Night begins with a
hymn sing at 10:30pm and a service of Holy Eucharist at
11:00pm, culminating with greeting the New Year at midnight. Following
the service there will be a reception in the Guild Room. All
Christ Church parishioners and their friends are welcome
to attend the Watch Night service. What better way
to welcome the New Year than in church.

Holly
Ball

Just a reminder…if
you have not yet made your reservation to attend this year’s
Holly Ball on Saturday, December 10 there’s still
time to make your reservation.

This year members of
the Reiersen family – Hal and Linda Reiersen and
Nancy Reiersen-Scromo have been selected as honorees for
this annual holiday event.

Don’t miss out on the
fun. If you haven’t received your invitation, or
if you need another RSVP card please see Bonnie Franz or
Roxanne Ingoe, our Holly Ball chairpersons.

British
Brunch at Christ ChurchSunday, January 29Colin Reed

Don’t forget to mark
your calendars for another afternoon of continental cuisine.
Previous brunches have taken us to Ireland, Germany and
Italy…this time we travel “across the pond” to
sample the foods that have fed the royal monarchy for years.

Further details to follow
in your Sunday bulletins.

Around
the Parish Nancy Reiersen

Another year has come…and
is almost gone! Hard to believe that 2011 is almost over.
There is much to report in this issue so let’s get
started.

Congratulations to Shirley
Elfers, who was inducted into the Curtis High
School Hall of Fame on November 20. Shirley was recognized
for her dedication and devotion to Christ Church.

Best wishes to John
and Christine Szczepanik on the marriage of their
daughter, Jessica, to Christopher
Nerline.

On November 6, we welcomed Noah
Sando Maggett into the Christ Church family.
Noah is the son of Nancy Sherman and David
Maggett; Noah’s proud grandfather is our
own William Sherman. Congratulations
to you all on this wonderful occasion.

And since we’re
on the topic of blessed events…congratulations to Paul
and Christine Elia on the newest addition to their family,
John Michael, who weighed in at 10 lbs. 2 oz.
Paul is the son of Marlene Elia. The Keucher family
has also increased with their newest member, Adam
Michael, who weighed in at 8 lbs. 2oz. on November
19. Adam is the great-grandson of Martha Keucher and
the great-nephew of Jerry Keucher.

We are pleased to report
that Xander Raff, son of Peter
Raff, has returned from Iraq and is currently
stationed in Texas. Both Xander and Peter have asked us
to extend their thanks to you all for your prayers and
concern.

Three Christ Church
choir members – Hal and Linda Reiersen and
David Seeley were spotted on the stage at Avery
Fisher Hall last month in a special performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” It’s
not often that one has the opportunity to perform under
the direction of Maestro Jonathan Griffiths,
and rumor has it that a wonderful time was had by all.

Condolences to Deacon
Geri Swanson and her family on the sudden passing
of her husband, Bob. This wonderful gentleman
was an active parishioner at Trinity Lutheran Church here
on Staten Island and was a “fixture” at the
Second Saturday Lunch Program. Bob also spent a great
deal of his time as a Scout Leader there as well.

That’s all for
now. Best wishes to you all for a blessed and joyful Christmas
and a happy and healthy new year.

Christmas
Memorial Flowers and GreensDavid Wood

Flower Fund Envelopes will
be found in the pews during the month of December. Those
who would like to contribute to the memorial flowers for
Christmas should list names of those to be remembered on
the front of the envelope and place your envelope with
donation in the offering plate on Sunday morning.

Checks should
be drawn to Christ ChurchNew
Brighton. All names must be received NO
LATER than Sunday, December 19 to be listed in
the Christmas bulletin.